


The Magnificent Seven

by SRassier



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Western, Family Drama, Family Reunions, Family Secrets, Implied Sexual Content, Magnificent Seven Reference (if you squint), Mail Order Brides, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Romance, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:25:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23100127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SRassier/pseuds/SRassier
Summary: The Hargreeves gather at the family cattle ranch for the funeral of Reginald Hargreeves. When they find out he was murdered, they all set out (some more reluctantly than others) to solve the mystery before one of them becomes the next victim.Rated mature for language and a scene describing the aftermath of a violent attack and one of someone threatening sexual assault.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves/Luther Hargreeves, Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves/Eudora Patch, Dolores/Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy), Grace Hargreeves/Reginald Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves/Leonard Peabody
Comments: 9
Kudos: 32





	1. The Death of Reginald Hargreeves

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about The Magnificent Seven (one of my favorite shows of all time) and thought..."Magnificent seven! Seven Hargreeves siblings...I'm going to write a western!"
> 
> Here is a list of western characters I had in mind (in look only, not actual character development) when I was writing this, Feel free to google to see the image that was in my head, or use your one image!
> 
> Luther-Ethan Edwards (The Searchers)-25  
> Diego-Jason McCullough (Support Your Local Sheriff)  
> Allison-Dixie Cousins (The Adventures of Brisco County Jr)  
> Klaus-Reverend Harry Powell (Night of the Hunter)  
> Five-Ezra Standish (Magnificent Seven)  
> Ben-William Evans (3:10 to Yuma)  
> Vanya-Elizabeth Thornton (When Calls the Heart)  
> Delores-Alma Garrett (Deadwood)  
> Grace-Sue Barlow (Open Range)  
> Dave-Dan Evans (3:10 to Yuma)  
> Hazel and Cha Cha-Butch and Sundance  
> Eudora-Cat Ballou

Melinda was a short, stout woman and running was not her forte. She ignored her chest tightening as she shuffled as fast as her stubby legs could carry her up the stairs to the penthouse. The physical difficultly of navigating the stairs in her ruffled dress was not what worried her most. It was what she had to do when she got to her boss’ room that terrified her.

Five Hargreeves was a good boss, he took care of all his staff at the hotel, but he was not a man to anger and waking him up this time of night would definitely qualify. She had half a mind to wait until morning but wasn’t sure if the news would be worse if she held it, so she ran. When she finally reached the landing on the top floor, she was pleasantly surprised to see the lady of the house sitting on the terrace. She breathed a sigh of relief, if anyone could help her with this task, it was Delores. She was the only one that Five would never get angry with.

“Mrs. Hargreeves?” Melinda breathlessly mumbled.   
Delores turned to look at the hotel’s housekeeper and smiled. She truly cared for the staff here and always tried to have a smile for them, even when her husband did not. “Morning Melinda.” She noticed the older woman’s distressed face and stood, stepping inside and crossing the rest of the way to her. “What is it?”  
“Telegram,” she stuttered. “For Mr. Hargreeves…urgent.” She pushed the small paper into Delores’ hand and the taller woman began to read. Her face turned solemn and she simply nodded, giving Melinda her leave and walked back into her room.

She crossed over to the bed and sat on the edge. As the bed sagged under the weight, she felt her husband stir. “Delores?”  
“Yeah baby, It’s me.” She tried to hide the trepidation in her voice but failed. She always failed to hide anything from him.   
“What’s wrong?” He sat up and put his arms around her, pulling her back so she was leaning against his chest.   
“It’s your father.”   
Five scoffed and kissed the back of her neck. “What does the old bastard want now?”  
“He’s dead.” She felt his whole body stiffen behind her and she absent mindedly ran her fingers up and down his arm. “Here.” She handed the telegram back and didn’t think he was going to take it as she held it up for nearly a minute before she felt it get pulled away from her fingers.

Delores sat still, waiting for him to react. When he finally moved, it was to pull her down to lay on her side, his arm still around her. “We’ll head out in the morning. It’ll take us a few days to get there, the train will only take us so far, we’ll have to take a stage the rest of the way.”  
“Damn, you really did grow up in the middle of nowhere.”  
He chuckled. “Wait until you see it.” He buried his face into the back of her neck and let out a breath, settling in to get whatever sleep he could still get at this hour of the day. “It’s a shithole.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diego sat at his desk staring at the wall of wanted posters looking back at him from across the room. He sighed as his brother, and boss, paced across the room for what seemed like the 100th time that morning. “Luther. You’re going to walk the floor all the way down to nothing.” Luther stopped in his tracks and looked back at his brother/deputy as if he didn’t realize he was even there until this moment. “Besides, you’re making me anxious.”  
“You should be anxious. Someone murdered our father!”  
Diego rolled his eyes as he started playing with his knife. “No one murdered anyone. He was a sad old man who got sick of being an asshole and shot himself.” He looked at his brother and saw that his argument wasn’t convincing the big man. “Besides, if someone did it, why didn’t Mom notice something?”  
“You know Mom hasn’t slept in that room for years.”

Diego decided to change the subject. If not for Luther’s sanity, then for his own. “Did someone get a hold of Klaus and Five?” The mention of their estranged brother’s names caused Luther to cringe. “I know you think that they aren’t part of this family anymore, but they at least deserve to be given the option to not come to the funeral.”  
Luther nodded, knowing that Diego was right. “Mom sent a few telegrams. One to Five’s hotel in San Francisco and a few others to places Klaus has been known to pass through.” He started pacing again. “Who knows if he’ll get them.”

The door to the Sheriff’s office swung open and in sauntered Allison Tanner, the proprietor of the local saloon, Rumors. Diego couldn’t help but notice that when she entered a room, it suddenly belonged to her. She threw him a quick nod before walking over to Luther and putting her hand on his arm. “I just got back to town and heard the news. Are you ok?”  
“As good as can be expected I guess.” He smiled. Luther didn’t normally smile. He was far too serious for that, but when it came to Allison, he couldn’t help himself.   
Diego took it as his cue to leave and seek out his own form of comfort. “Well, as much as I’d love to watch the two of you pretend to not be madly in love with each other, I’ve got shit to do.” He strolled past the blushing couple and out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The falling sun lit up the sky with an orange tinge that under normal circumstances Ben Min would have sat back and basked in for a few minutes before show time. He loved the look of mother nature and the colors that she bore for the world to enjoy. He sometimes needed the calm of nature’s colors to get his mind off his work. It’s not that he didn’t appreciate Mr. Hargreeves taking him under his wing and away from his awful past, but honesty was one of Ben’s most valued qualities and what his boss did simply…wasn’t honest.

Tonight, however, he didn’t have time to enjoy the sunset. He ran across the dinky little town toward the massive tent that had been set up by him and Dave earlier in the day. His hand clutched the small piece of paper tightly as he reached the door flap. He threw it open and busted inside but stopped short when he realized that he didn’t announce himself.

The two men inside quickly pushed away from each other at the sudden intrusion. Dave breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who it was. “Damn it Ben, you scared the shit out of us!”   
“Sorry.” He watched as the two men relaxed in his presence.   
Klaus put his hand back on Dave’s lower back as he chuckled. “Don’t snap at poor Benjamin like that, he already has the burden of traveling the country with a couple of punks, he doesn’t need us turning on him because he forgot to knock.”  
Ben’s face flushed and he stepped forward, thrusting the paper toward Klaus. He took it and silently read the words before crushing it between his hands and tossing it to the side. “Alright! It’s nearly showtime. Is everything set up?”  
Ben looked at Dave’s confused face and back to Klaus. “Shouldn’t we cancel?”  
“Cancel?” Klaus reached out and patted Ben’s face. “Nonsense boy! The show must go on!”  
“What is happening?” Dave addressed Ben, knowing that Klaus wouldn’t give him a straight answer.  
Ben looked at Klaus for permission and took his boss’ fluttering of a hand and walking away as the permission he needed. He turned back to Dave. “His father died.”


	2. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone finally gets home for the funeral.

Delores was a girly girl to her very core. She was born to a very wealthy family and raised in New York City never having to do much for herself. Her whole life was planned from the moment she was born. She was told how to dress, how to talk, who to spend time with and even who she was going to marry. All through her childhood and teenage years she played the dutiful daughter and went along with nearly everything she was told. That is until Five won her in a poker game when she was just 19.

Angry didn’t even cover it. When her fiancé came to her and tried to explain that he bet a date with her when he was ‘absolutely sure’ that he had a winning hand she was furious. When the man came to collect her for their night on the town her anger turned to terror. What kind of a man would accept a person as stakes in a poker game? When they got outside and out of earshot of her fiancé, he turned to her and smirked before tipping his hat in her direction. “You have a wonderful evening Miss.” He turned to walk in the opposite direction, her confusion causing her to call after him.   
“Where are you going?”  
He stopped but didn’t look back at her right away. “I never had the intention of taking you out. I just wanted your weasel of a fiancé to squirm a bit.” He finally turned to her and the smirk was still there. “Besides, I’d feel awful if I took advantage, seeing as I was cheating.” He winked before turning around and starting back down the street.   
Delores didn’t know what came over her, but she jogged to catch up with him and linked her arm in his. When he looked down at her, curiosity creeping into every feature, she smiled. “He cheats too, he’s just not as good at it. So, you won me fair and square.” 

Later that evening, she found herself naked in his bed. She drifted in and out of sleep with her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her. She listened to his breath as it matched the rise and fall of his chest and she had never in her life felt so much like she belonged. “You awake?” He whispered and she nodded. “Come with me.”  
Delores propped herself up on her arm, looking down at him with a mix of shock and excitement in her eyes. “What?”  
“I’m leaving tomorrow. Come with me.”  
She would be leaving the life she knew. She would certainly be disavowed by her father and lose every advantage she currently had in society. It would be hard, it SHOULD be terrifying but something inside her ignored everything and simply replied, “When do we leave?”

During the next four years, Delores never once regretted her decision. After the initial thrill of running away with a handsome stranger wore off, their love remained. They were married in the first town they came to and continued traveling until they reached San Francisco. He owned a hotel there and Delores found herself settling quite easily into his life of traveling poker games and lush hotel living. Five treated her like a queen, she never wanted for anything and she barely missed her old life…until today.

The stagecoach hit yet another bump, shaking her free of her previous thoughts of luxury. She was brought back to the reality of her situation. She was traveling in a rickety stage on her way to God knows where to attend the funeral of the father that her husband despised. She took her eyes off the window to glance at Five. He was leaning against the other wall of the coach, dead asleep. The man could sleep anywhere, and Delores never envied that more than in this moment. She looked back to the outside world and tried to keep an open mind. People lived in this dust filled hell hole. Five’s people. She would do her best to grin and bear it, for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright everyone!” The children in the small one room schoolhouse were bustling with excitement for the weekend. Keeping them focused on the final moments of the lesson was proving to be too much for Vanya Hargreeves. She knew that the ice cream social was happening that Saturday and trying to get kids to pay attention to her instead of thinking of ice cream and dancing was a fruitless effort. “Ok then, you have all been quite good this week. I guess I can let you go a bit early.” The room exploded into action as older kids grabbed their already packed satchels and ran out the door as the younger ones started to collect their things. Vanya chuckled and shouted out to them all, “Have a good weekend!”

After packing her things as well, Vanya stepped out of the schoolhouse and into the street. She started walking toward the sheriff’s office where she always met Diego or Luther for a ride back to the ranch. She noticed a commotion near the recently arrived stagecoach where several of her older students were gathered around a woman who had just got off the coach. Vanya knew that’s where she must have come from because not only did she not recognize the stunning woman with bright red hair piled atop her head, but she was also dressed in the latest fashions not seen anywhere in this territory outside of a magazine.

Vanya decided to go save the woman, who seemed to be politely humoring the girls of the group who were asking her how much the dress cost and if she was some sort of royalty. She approached the woman as just as she did a man came around the other side of the coach, carrying two bags, followed by the driver, who was carrying two more. “Five!” Vanya immediately set out in a sprint to the man who when hearing her shout out to him, dropped the bags in his hand and met her halfway down the walk. The two met in an embrace with Five lifting Vanya off her feet and spinning her around, earning a giggle from the students watching with interest.

He gently placed her back down on her feet and stepped back, hands still on her arms as if inspecting her. “You look good! Teaching must be the fountain of youth.”  
“Look who’s talking.” Vanya smiled wide and placed her hand on the side of his face. “You haven’t aged a day!”  
“You have me to thank for that.” Vanya looked around her brother and saw the redhead from earlier approaching them. “I told him staying clean shaven keeps him looking young.”   
Five smirked down at this sister and added. “And I always do whatever she says.”  
Vanya let go of Five and stepped around him to put her hand out for Delores, who took it. “I’m Vanya, Five’s sister.”  
“Delores, his wife.”

Vanya slowly turned her head to look at Five, raising an eyebrow as she did. “Wife?”  
“Yeah,” the three started walking back to the coach where he scooped up the dropped bags. “I would have invited you but it…kind of just…happened.”  
“He won me in a poker game.” Delores said with a quick wink to the children still watching with great interest.  
Vanya’s eyes got wide as Five shook his head at Delores. “That’s not exactly what…you know what?” He turned to Vanya. “We are going to go get a room at the hotel and I’ll tell you all about it at dinner.”  
“You are not staying at the hotel.”  
“Vanya…” Five’s face dropped, and he looked down his nose at her.  
“Five…” She mimicked his look, adding a pout for comedic effect. “You know mom is going to be mad enough that you never told her you got married, don’t make it worse by turning down a stay at the ranch.”  
Five sighed and looked at Delores. “Well, we will get the best food in the territory.”  
Delores plastered the most genuine looking smile she could muster as she thought of staying in a dilapidated farmhouse with pigs on the front porch and a glorified bucket for an outhouse. “Whatever you want dear.”

Delores picked up her train case as Vanya picked up the remaining bag. They chatted as they walked and within minutes they were on the other end of town in front of the Sheriff’s office. Before Vanya could step up on the boardwalk, the door opened. Luther stepped out and closed and locked the door behind him. When he turned around his mouth dropped, causing Delores to stifle a giggle at the site of this towering hulk of a man look absolutely gob smacked. “Five?”   
“In the flesh.”  
Luther stared for another moment before stepping forward and offering out his hand. “Glad you could make it.”  
“Are you?” Five didn’t put either bag down, he simply glared at the big man’s outstretched hand until Luther got the hint and lowered it.   
“Charming as always.”  
“Oh, stop it you two.” Vanya stepped in between them. “The least you could do is pretend not to hate each other while Five is in town.” She looked back and forth between the two men. “For mom?”  
They both shot sheepish looks at Vanya and Delores couldn’t help but notice that even though the two men didn’t look that much alike, they made the exact same faces.   
“Good, now let’s get these two settled and Mom and I can whip up some supper for all of us.”

The tension during the ride to the ranch was palpable. Vanya tried to cut it by chatting with Delores as Luther and Five stared straight ahead, pretending to not be in each other’s presence. She was very pleasant and easy to talk to so Delores figured the trip could be tolerable if she stayed as close to Vanya as possible. They talked about their lives, Delores filling in for Vanya the things that she didn’t know (which Delores found out quickly was nearly their whole life) and Vanya talked about the family that Delores was now a part of. 

“Luther, in case you didn’t notice, is the sheriff. Diego, who you will meet later because he never misses supper, is his deputy. Together they keep us all safe and me proud.” She beamed at Luther as he urged the horses on. “Klaus is a bit of a black sheep…” Luther grunted from the front of the wagon. “He travels a lot. He…um…preaches the gospel.”  
“More like sells snake oil.”  
“Luther!”  
“What? I’m not saying anything that’s not true. He lures people into his traveling ‘church’ and sells them the idea that he can speak to their dead relatives. What a crock.”  
“Well, I figure if it puts them at ease, what’s the harm?”  
Delores ignored Luther and kept focus on her new sister-in-law. “You really do see the good in everyone, don’t you?”  
“I try.” The smile never dropped from her face as she finished, “And then there’s me…the baby of the family.”  
“Four older brothers.” Delores shook her head slowly. “I bet that was rough.”  
“Was?” The two women giggled.   
“What about that good-looking fella in the front seat? Where does he fall in the birth order?”  
Five chimed in, “I’m the oldest of course.”  
“Yeah, by five minutes.” Luther huffed.  
Delores’ voice didn’t hide the shock. “You’re twins?”  
“Seriously Five?” Vanya scolded her brother. “Did you tell her nothing? Does she even know your real name?”  
Five cringed as he felt Delores’ glare on the back of his neck. “Real name?”  
“To be fair, it’s on our marriage certificate.”  
“Which you folded up and shoved in your pocket before we went back to the hotel to…” Delores caught herself and blushed as Vanya nearly snorted holding back a laugh. “Anyway, I never saw it.”

Five was saved by the sight of their destination. The wagon pulled up in front of a sprawling ranch home which, Delores noted, did not have any pigs on the front porch. In fact, she thought it looked quite exquisite. It was much larger than she expected and as Luther pulled the horses to halt, a lovely older woman came through the front door, wiping her hands on an apron. 

“Is that?” Her face broke into a bright smile. “Five?” She rushed off the porch as Five hopped down and scooped her into a hug to rival the one he gave his sister earlier. As Luther helped Delores off the wagon, she heard her husband whisper against the woman’s shoulder, “Hi mom.”  
“Oh my, you look so handsome!” She brushed her fingers down her son’s face, “You look so young!”   
Five glanced at Delores and smiled. “That’s what she keeps telling me.”  
“And who is this smart lady?”  
Five took Delores’ hand and led her to stand next to him. “Delores, this is my mother, Grace.” Delores reached out and shook the hand offered to her. “Mom, this is Delores…my wife.”  
Grace looked between her three present children and back at Delores. “Well.” She said as her smile never faltered. “I bet that’s a story and a half. Let’s all go inside, and you can tell me all about it while I finish supper.” She took Delores by the hand and led her in, followed by Vanya with Five and Luther grabbing bags to bring into the house.


	3. A Few Reunions and A Lot of Drinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family catches us and Five meets some old friends from his time working for his father's rival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Hazel and Cha-Cha!

Delores was putting the last spoon on the table when the door suddenly flew open. Diego walked in and ignored her completely as he walked around her and made a bee line for Grace. He gave her a peck on the cheek and smiled. “Smells good!”  
“You say that every day.”  
“Well, it smells good every day.” He leaned in for another kiss on the cheek and then turned to Delores. “Who the hell are you?”  
“Diego, language!” Grace swatted at him with a spatula, but he quickly dodged it.  
“That’s Delores.” Diego turned to follow the voice to Five standing up from the davenport in the living room. “She’s my wife.”  
“Holy shit, Five!”  
“Diego!” Grace huffed from the kitchen as her foul-mouthed son crossed the room to greet his brother.   
“Wasn’t sure you’d make it.” He reached out his hand which Five shook.  
Five pulled Diego’s hand to lean in out of Grace’s earshot. “And miss the chance to confirm the old bastard’s really gone? Not a chance.”  
Diego clapped him on the back, and they all sat down to a supper filled with stories of Five and Delores’ life (including an awkward explanation of their first date, minus the ending) and memories of childhood. 

After supper, Diego pulled out some cigars and led Luther and Five to the front porch. “So.” Five broke the ice as Diego lit his cigar. “Any word from Klaus?”  
“No.” Luther shook his head in disgust. “Surprise surprise.”  
“He does travel a lot.”  
“So do you.”  
“Yeah but I have a home base, you knew you’d get me at the Hotel eventually.”  
Diego piped in. “Luther, you think you’d want Klaus.” He ignored the confusion on his brother’s faces. “He could summon dear old Dad and ask who murdered him.” Five heard a definite sarcastic drawl on the word murder.   
“What? Murder?”  
Luther sighed. “Diego doesn’t believe me; he thinks Dad shot himself.”  
“Hm.” Five took a drag on his cigar and pondered for a moment. “Makes sense. Dad was far too in love with himself to commit suicide, and the list of people who would like to see him dead is a mile long.” He rolled the cigar in his fingers. “Anyone talk to Handler yet?”  
“You think Kate Handler is dumb enough to murder her biggest rival?”  
“Not dumb enough…ballsy enough.”  
Diego stared off in the night as he absently mindedly said, “That woman used to scare the shit out of me when we were kids.”  
Luther never took his eyes off Five the entire conversation. “Why don’t you go ask her, you two were pretty chummy as I recall.”  
“Grow up Luther.” Five sat on the porch swing and sprawled his arms across the top. “Kids rebel, that’s what they do. I wanted to stick it to Dad, and I figured the best way was to get a job with his biggest competition. I worked for her for a summer, doesn’t make us soul mates.”  
“Yeah, but you did get along with her two goons if I recall. You could talk to them.”  
“Hazel and Cha-Cha? They still around?”  
“Yeah. They’re around and still as mean as ever. They’re probably downtown right now tearing up Allison’s place over a poker game.”  
“Shit! Why didn’t you say so!” Five put out his cigar and headed back into the house. “I’m going to grab my coat and head into town. That sounds like much more fun than this.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allison was counting her blessings this evening. The bar was relatively quiet even with Hazel and Cha-Cha here. They were playing a nice game of cards that wasn’t getting too outrageous since everyone knew who they were losing to and how to handle it. Her piano player was keeping the place lively and the drinks were flowing. This was the kind of night she liked. 

She noticed the door swing open and in walked a man and woman that she didn’t recognize. The man looked like a gambler with his fancy suit and bright red vest. The woman looked very out of place not only in this bar, but the town itself. She was wearing a dress that Allison could only assume cost more than she could make in a month and walked in on the man’s arm like he owned the place and was about to gift it to her. Allison didn’t see many women out this time of night who weren’t working.

Allison nearly had a heart attack when the man walked up behind the poker table and loudly proclaimed, “Hey ass-holes!”   
She held her breath, mentally adding up the damage that was about to occur as this man was murdered right there in her bar. Hazel stood up first, he towered above most of the people in the town and this man was no exception. He turned to see who dared address him and his partner in that manner but when he saw him, he didn’t attack like Allison thought would happen, instead he broke out into a wide grin. “Five! You son of a bitch!” The big man gathered Five into a bear hug, causing the woman next to him to stumbled back at how fast he was ripped away from her.

Cha-Cha got up next and much more subtly grinned and put her hand out for Five who took it and pulled her into a hug as well. Allison thought she could live to be 100 years old and never see anyone hug Cha-Cha (and live) but here it was happening live right in front of her eyes. “How you been?” Her demeaner never really changed from scary but it did soften a bit in the man’s presence, like she was addressing a younger brother.  
“Good. Great.” Five reached for Delores’ hand and pulled her back toward him. “This is my wife Delores.”   
“Wife?” Hazel smiled and nodded at Delores. “Ma’am.”  
“Nice to meet you.”  
One of the men at the table soon took leave of his senses because he grumbled out. “We playing cards or having a family reunion?”  
Cha-Cha stiffened and turned to the man as Allison sprang into action. She bolted around the bar and approached the table. “How about a round on me?”  
“Yeah.” Hazel threw his hat into the ring to help Allison out. “I was getting sick of cards anyway. How’s about we just get a table and catch up?”  
“Sounds good to me.” Five led the way and the four of them sat down as Allison went to get drinks.

“How long has it been?” Cha-Cha said as Allison placed the beers in front of everyone.   
Five let out a long breath, “8 years.”  
“Shit.” She looked at Delores. “You been with this guy for 8 years?”  
“Um, no…4.” Delores didn’t really like beer but was afraid to ask for something else, so she took a sip and tried to hide her disdain. Five waved Allison over.  
“Do you have any wine?”  
“I think I may have a bottle of red.”  
“Glass for the lady please.” He reached over and took Delores’ beer and placed it in front of himself and she squeezed his hand in thanks.  
“We weren’t sure if you’d come back for the funeral.”  
Hazel tilted his head toward Five. “Yeah, sorry about your old man.”  
“Don’t be.” Five took a swig of beer as Allison brought the glass of wine out to Delores.   
She looked at Five through narrowed eyes. “So, you’re the brother who abandoned his family huh?”  
Five looked her in the eyes and didn’t flinch. “So, you’re the woman who is in love with my brother but neither of you have the balls to do anything about it huh?” Allison put the wine on the table and walked back to the bar in a huff as Five turned back to Hazel. “So, my brother thinks old Reggie was murdered…neither of you would have anything to do with that would you?”  
“Five!” Delores nearly spit out her wine and she gave him a shocked look.  
“Nah, it’s ok ma’am.” Cha-Cha said. “It’s a fair question.”  
“Yeah,” said Hazel. “The lady we work for is…shall we say…not the most up-and-up businessperson around and we do her dirty work.” He looked back at Five. “No. We did not off the old man. Is Luther the only one who thinks so?”  
“Yeah. Diego thinks he killed himself and I just wanted an excuse to get out of the house.”  
“Must be weird having the old homestead full again.”  
“It’s not quite full yet…” Five drifted off, not completing his thought.  
“No sign of Klaus huh?”  
“Not yet but, he’s hard to pin down. He may not even know what happened?”

The doors flew open with a swift kick and Five heard a familiar voice behind him. “Round of drinks on me! Everybody’s going to help me celebrate the demise of one of the cruelest men to ever walk the planet!”  
Five took another sip of his beer and smiled. “NOW, the homestead is full.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Allison finally kicked everyone out it was nearly two o’clock in the morning. Five helped Delores into the wagon and the group headed out of town toward the ranch; Five, Delores and Klaus in the family wagon and Ben and Dave following behind in their rig. Klaus made a production of sitting in the back with Delores drunkenly declaring “I am going to sit here with my sister-in-law, and we are going to talk about you, Five. Do not listen, it is none of your business.” Delores giggled and Five shook his head. At least she was having a good time.

They pulled up in front of the house and everyone piled out of the wagons. Ben told Five he’d take care of all the horses and Five was too tired and too tipsy to argue. They all tried to be as quiet as they could entering the house, but it was no use. Luther and Grace were both sitting up, waiting. Five felt like a teenager again. “Are you drunk?” Luther accused and as an answer, Delores snorted, trying to hold in her giggle which caused Klaus to let his laugh fully out. Dave, being the only one who didn’t drink that evening tried to explain. “Hi, I’m Dave. I work for Klaus. We went to the saloon to get a drink after our long journey and we met Five and Delores and one thing led to another and…”  
“Plastered!” Klaus announced, causing Delores to grab onto his arm and laugh.

Grace stood up and began corralling the group. “Well, we can talk about this tomorrow. Right now, we could all use some sleep. Five, Delores, up you go!” Five didn’t have to be told twice, he grabbed Delores’ hand and rushed her upstairs. “Klaus, you get to your room and your friend Dave can have the spare.” She smiled wistfully. “It’s so nice having a full house again.”  
“Uh,” Dave approached Grace. “what about Ben?”  
“Who’s Ben?”  
“He’s taking care of the horses. He’ll need a place to sleep, too.”  
“Yeah,” Klaus leaned toward Luther and loudly whispered, “do not be alarmed, but we have a china-man with us.”  
“Oh, well one of you will just have to share.” Grace began bustling around the room, blowing out lanterns and grabbing spare blankets on her way upstairs. Luther scoffed and stormed off to his own room. Ben walked into the nearly empty sitting room and Klaus beamed at him. “Good news Benjamin…you get your own room!”


	4. The Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Um...the funeral

“Is it disrespectful to go to a funeral hung over?” Delores asked as she finished putting up her hair and checking her makeup for the fourth time that morning. Satisfied that she had covered as much of the evidence of the night before as she could, she turned around to help Five with his tie.   
“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Five’s arms fell to his side as Delores finished up the tie that he was struggling with in his current state. “The old man didn’t garner respect when he was alive…why start now?” This earned him a swat on the arm and a disapproving look. “What? I’ve never hid how I felt about him.”  
“Yes but the DAY of his funeral you could at least pretend. For the rest of your family.”  
“Fine, but I’m going to be a miserable grump the rest of the day.”  
“You’re always a miserable grump.” She pulled his face down to hers and kissed the frown away. “But you’re MY miserable grump.”

They descended the stairs to find most of their family already in the sitting room or on the front porch greeting arrivals from town. Five looked out the window and saw Vanya talking to a mousy looking man who looked familiar, but he couldn’t place him. He walked up to where Diego and Luther were standing and leaned in, “Who’s that talking to Vanya?” He couldn’t help but notice that the man’s arm was now around her. They were very familiar.   
Diego smiled as he looked at Luther and then back to Five. “You don’t recognize your old school pal?”  
Five studied the man a bit more before realization washed over his face. “Shit, is that Leonard Peabody?” Diego nodded. “What the hell is Vanya doing with Leonard Peabody?”  
“Who’s Leonard Peabody?” Delores asked.  
“He’s an old school mate of ours. Same age as me and Luther. He does not like me.”  
Diego snorted. “Maybe that’s because you took his girlfriend up to the hayloft after the Sadie Hawkins dance.”  
“He did, did he?” Delores sent a questioning look over at her brother in law.   
“Now honey, you can’t get jealous about something that happened years before we met.”  
“I’m not jealous, just concerned that you stole someone’s girlfriend.”  
Five smirked at his wife. “Well, it worked out pretty well for me the last time.” She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him, about to say something when she was interrupted by Luther. “Everyone, I think we should start.” He strode toward the door and the crowd filed out after him, following him up to the family plot on a nearby hill.

Delores hadn’t been to many funerals in her life but the ones she had gone to had one thing in common: crying. Each and every one she attended had some level of people crying to mourn the dead. Be it wives, mothers, sons, or any number of familial relations, someone always broke down in tears. This one was the exception. As she scanned the crowd, noting that nearly the entire population of the town turned out for Reginald Hargreeves’ funeral, there was not one single tear being shed. Not his neighbors, not his children, not even his wife. She looked at Five and he looked positively bored. Had she not seen the same expression on a few of his siblings’ faces, she would have been mad. Perhaps Five wasn’t exaggerating when he would talk about how hard their father was on them. None of them seemed too concerned to see the old man put in the ground.

When it was time to pay their final respects, Grace went first. She stepped up to the grave once the casket had been lowered and stooped down to take a fist full of dirt and toss it on top of the ornate wooden box. She then threw in a flower that she had been holding before standing up and nodding to Diego as she walked back to her place. Diego and Vanya went next. They repeated the motions of throwing dirt into the grave and Vanya added her own flower. Next was Klaus, and then Luther. Delores noticed that Luther whispered something as he threw his dirt, but it was too soft for her to hear. She felt no movement from her side and looked up at Five. 

He gave no inclination that he was going anywhere. His eyes were fixed on something on the horizon, his face showing a soft glare. She looked back at Grace who was watching her oldest, her eyes pleading with him to be a good son to a man who was not a good father. Delores could feel the crowd’s eyes on them, watching to see if the prodigal son was going to show his father any sort of forgiveness. Knowing how one simple act can brand a family, she thought quickly. Reaching her hand up to the back of his head, she pulled him down so his mouth rested near her ear. She waited a moment and placed her other hand upon his cheek, stroking it lovingly before stepping away from him. She walked up to the grave, knelt down and took up a handful of dirt and glancing at Grace with a nod, she threw it in. When she stood and turned back around, she saw Five’s back as he was already halfway down the hill toward the house.

After the crowd had dispersed and only the family and a few close friends remained, Delores found herself outside the room Five and her shared. She hesitated slightly at the cracked open door before pushing the handle and stepping inside. Five was sitting on the bed, facing away from the door toward the window. He had their bags on either side of him, packed. “You shouldn’t have done that.” His voice wasn’t angry, just frustrated. “He didn’t deserve it.”  
“I didn’t do it for him.” She walked around to the other side of the bed. She knelt in front of him and took his hands into her own. Looking at the bags and then back to him she decided to change the subject. “Are we leaving?”   
“It was a mistake to come here. There is a stage leaving first thing in the morning. We should be on it.”

For four years they had experienced a lot with each other. Laughter, tears, sadness, excitement. Throughout all those emotions Five had always been strong. Part of the reason she fell in love with him (and the main reason she ended up in his bed their night together) was his confidence. She loved that no matter what the world threw at them, Five was always headstrong and kept her from feeling dejected or down. Today, she saw a different side of him. She pulled herself up to sit next to him on the bed. Pulling him into her arms she silently let him know that she could be for him what he had been for her so many times before. He nearly collapsed into her embrace and let himself cry for the first time since arriving at his childhood home.


	5. The fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luther and Five finally say what's on their minds. 
> 
> AKA: My "Dallas/evening soap opera" Chapter

When supper time arrived, Delores decided they could no longer hide in their room and told Five as much. He grumbled a faint agreement and followed her down the stairs and into the dining room where Vanya and Grace were preparing dinner and Diego was setting the table. Five noticed that he was setting it for nine. They were expected. He met Diego’s eyes and his younger brother nodded. Klaus and Dave were sitting in the living room chatting about old friends that Klaus got to see today and Five wandered over to the “chinaman” that he brought home with him who was standing off to one side of the room.  
“I don’t think we were properly introduced.” He offered his hand. “I’m Five, Klaus’ brother.”  
The smaller man took the offered hand with a smile. “I’m Ben. I work for Klaus.”  
“You seem like an interesting group. How the hell did you all get together?”  
“Well, um…” Before Ben could finish, Luther came barreling into the house. 

He made a beeline for Five and immediately began to snap at his brother. “What the hell is wrong with you?” The entire family went still. The tension in the room was palpable and Delores could feel herself stiffen up at the sound of someone verbally attacking her husband. “You’ve got some nerve, coming here after what you did and acting like a petulant child at the man’s funeral!”  
“After what I did?” Five tried to square up against Luther but was nearly a full head shorter and not nearly as solid. “Now who’s got some nerve?”  
Luther ignored him. “You’re lucky that your wife had the good sense and quick thinking to save this family from the disgrace you nearly brought.”  
“Jesus Luther, grow up.”   
Grace opened her mouth to scold her son for his language, but Vanya put her hand on her mother’s arm to silence her. Delores was focusing on Five and Luther but could hear Vanya whisper, “Let them get it out of their systems.”  
Five continued. “The man was a monster. To me, to you, to all of us. Why the hell do you think Klaus and I left?”  
“You left because he told you to leave.”  
“Yeah, and why did he kick me out, huh?”  
“Because you went to work for the enemy.”  
Five reached up and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “This isn’t one of your fucking dime novels Luther. There is no ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys.’ Kate Handler runs a rival cattle ranch. That’s all. She offered me a job and I took it. The fact that Dad couldn’t handle me working for someone who was actually going to pay me money and not beat the shit out of me when I made a mistake? Well…that’s his problem and not mine.”

The room stayed silent, waiting for Luther’s reaction. He finally spoke in a calm and calculated tone. “Why did you come home then?”  
“Because I wanted to see my family, and I thought that my twin brother might, just might want to see me.” Five’s voice caught in his throat as he spat out, “I guess I was wrong.” He turned on his heels and stormed upstairs, the prospect of dinner forgotten.   
Luther put a hand to his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit.”

Delores put down the stack of napkins she held and made her way around the table to head upstairs. She was stopped by Vanya. “If it’s ok, I’d like to go talk to him.” Delores just nodded and watched the petite figure climb the stairs to find Five. Delores solemnly went back to putting napkins out as Luther walked back outside.

“Five?” Vanya pushed the door open and found herself face to face with her brother, eyes red but no tears.   
“You can’t fix this Vanya.”  
“I know.” She walked to the bed and sat next to him. “I just need to make sure we’re alright.”  
Five turned to look at her and softly chuckled. “Of course.” He took one of her hands in his. “You’re my baby sister. We will always be alright.”  
She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Good. I was afraid you would leave again like when we were kids and you’d never come back.”  
“I don’t know V.” He shook his head. “What if whenever I do come back, it’s always the same? I can’t do that to myself and I definitely can’t do that to Delores.”  
“If you never come back to town, who’s going to give me away if I get married?” Vanya’s eyes were pleading for Five to understand the hurt he would cause if he abandoned his family again.   
Five’s eyes furrowed. “You’re not thinking about marrying Peabody are you?”  
“Well, he hasn’t asked yet, but I think he’s going to.” Five saw her blush and decided not to push the issue right now. “I just want what you have with Delores.” Vanya saw Five’s eyes soften at the mention of his wife’s name. “I really like her.”  
“Me too.” He smirked as Vanya shoved her shoulder up against his. “V?”  
“Yes?”  
“Thank you. I knew there was a reason I came home.”  
“You’re welcome.” She stood and walked to the door. “Now, unpack those bags and come down to dinner. Mom and I made a roast.” With that she walked out, leaving Five to his thoughts. He smiled and started putting their things back into the dresser drawers, but the rumble of his stomach made him abandon the task to later and head downstairs to eat.


	6. Living Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus finds out more about Five and Delores then he ever wanted. We find out something about Delores, and the boys find out something about their past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit longer but I really wanted to get to the DUN DUN DUUUUUN moment.

The next few days were relatively nice compared to the day of the funeral. Part of the reason for that, Five thought was the fact that Luther had been sleeping at the jail instead of at the homestead. When they did see each other in passing, it was either a quick nod or nothing at all. Both men resigned to the fact that Five would not be staying forever so there was no reason to stir up any more trouble. 

One evening after dinner, the living room was filled with the sounds of lively conversation. Delores was regaling Vanya with tales of big city living in San Francisco, Grace and Diego were listening intently as Ben told them how he came here as a baby from Korea (not China as Klaus had insisted), and Klaus was trying to explain to Five what he did for a living. “You see, people come to see me, I preach a little fire and brimstone, then I see individuals who want to talk to their dead relatives. They toss me a little cash, I tell them dear old Dad is proud of them or Mom loves them and then we are off to the next town!”   
“Isn’t that a bit…dishonest?”  
“More dishonest than cheating at poker to win the affections of a lovely young lady?”  
“Touché” Five raised his glass and Klaus did the same.

“Ahem.” Vanya cleared her throat and the room slowly quieted down. “I have an announcement to make. I was hoping everyone could be here but…” She looked a little sad at the thought of Luther not being there but couldn’t contain herself much longer and had to share. “I figure if I waited until we were all together, I wouldn’t get to tell you for 20 years.” She gave out a little chuckle which was answered by some others in the room.   
“Tell us what?” Klaus was never a patient man.  
“Leonard asked me to marry him today…and I said yes!”  
The room erupted. Delores and Grace were the first to reach Vanya, wrapping her in hugs. They were joined by Klaus, Dave and Ben all offering their congratulations. Diego and Five exchanged wary looks across the room. Five knew that if there was one person in the family who was a better judge of character than he was, it was Diego, and neither of them liked Leonard Peabody.

“Five, Diego?” Grace called across the room to her two boys. “Aren’t you going to congratulate your sister?”   
Five was the first to move. “Of course.” He crossed the room putting on the most genuine smile he could muster and pulled his sister into a big hug. “I’m happy for you, sis.”  
She pulled back and looked him in the eye. “Are you?”  
“Yes. I never hid the fact that I don’t like the guy but, if he makes you happy…then I’m happy.”  
Vanya’s smile lit up the room. There was never any doubt that Five was her favorite, even when they were kids. The fact that he approved was all that she needed. “So you’ll come back…to walk me down the aisle?”  
“Wild horses couldn’t keep me from it.”  
“Well, that’s a relief.” Diego piped in from the other side of the room. Everyone turned to look at him. “We were all worried that we’d never get to see Delores again.” He winked at his brother and Klaus started laughing. “Yeah, I guess you’re alright too, Five.”

After that, Grace opened a bottle of wine and they all spent the evening celebrating. Ideas for wedding dates and plans flew around the room, and everyone, if even just for a moment, got caught up in the wedding fever. After what seemed like hours, Grace stood up and announced that it was getting late and she was headed off to bed. This set off a chain of sleepy people one by one heading off to their own slumber. 

“I’m so happy for her.” Delores gushed as she changed into her nightgown. “She is such a sweet girl and really deserves to be loved.”  
Five wandered over to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against his chest. “She’s not the only one.” He leaned in, pushing her hair to one side and placing a few chaste kisses on her neck.  
“She’s not?”  
“Hmm.” He nuzzled her neck as his hands began to unbutton the top of her nightgown.   
“Five!” She playfully pushed him away and walked to the vanity. Picking up her brush, she began running it through her hair.

He came over and crouched down next to her. His hands started snaking their way up the side of her nightgown and he got just above her knee when she grabbed the hand through the fabric and stopped it cold. “I am not having sex while your mother is right down the hall.”  
“Oh come on.” He started placing little kisses on the skin that was exposed on her legs from him lifting her gown. “She drank three glasses of wine. She is sleeping like the dead right now.”  
“What about the rest of your family? Surely someone will hear us.”  
“Who’s fault is that?” Five stood, taking her hands and pulling her up with him. He wrapped his arms around her and leaned in close. So close that she could feel his breath on her lips. “You’re the one who can’t keep quiet when we…” He was cut off by Delores’ lips crushing into his. He could taste the wine on her lips and smell the soft scent of her lavender perfume. She pulled away for air and Five growled at the disconnection.   
Delores looked into his eyes and the corners of her mouth turned up into a wicked smile. “Alright, but only if we are very, very quiet.”   
“Quiet like mice.” Five leaned in and kissed her again. He lifted her up and walked over to the bed, falling onto the blankets. As he kissed her neck, he whispered how much he loved her and how he was going to be quiet for her and how they were going to make love all night and not one person in the house would ever be the wiser.

He was wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Delores opened her eyes the next day, she was surprised to see it was mid-morning already. She yawned and stretched her arms wide, finding only an empty bed. Sitting up, she could hear someone talking in the yard below the window and recognized Five but couldn’t place the other voice. She quickly got dressed and headed downstairs to what seemed like an empty house. 

She sighed thankfully at the still warm carafe of coffee on the stove and was pouring herself a cup when a sing-song voice broke the silence. “Good morning!” She turned to see Klaus getting up from an armchair in the living room and sauntering over to her. “I trust you had a good nights…ahem…sleep?”  
“I did thank you. Where is everyone?”  
“Luther took Mom into town to talk to the lawyer about Dad’s will.” He put one hand on the side of his mouth like a child whispering a secret. “I’m guessing Five and I aren’t getting squat. Vanya went to school; Diego is working, and Dave and Ben went into town for some supplies.”  
“Everyone got up so early, I feel silly for sleeping in.”  
Klaus’ mouth turned into a sly grin. “Well, the rest of us did SLEEP last night. I’m surprised Five got up as early as he did.”  
“Well, he’s always been an early riser…” Klaus’ words finally sunk in and Delores’ face turned red as a beet. “Oh my God.”  
“Don’t worry. There’s nothing to be ashamed about. You two clearly have a healthy marriage.” Delores could barely hear him talk over the sounds of her own embarrassment. “Besides, you can’t let Vanya beat you to giving Grace grandkids.”

The sound of a wagon approaching cut their conversation short. Klaus strolled toward the door, only looking over his shoulder for one last jab, “Enjoy it, by the sounds of it, my big brother knows what he is doing.” He winked and walked out the door, leaving Delores with her head in her hands wondering how she was ever going to face anyone again.

Delores gave up on coffee and wandered outside, following the sound of her husband’s voice. She found him on the side of the house, chatting with an older gentleman with a cane in one hand wearing the nicest suit she had seen since coming to this town. As she approached, Five smiled and reached out his hand for her to take. She did and he pulled her in close to his side before introducing her to the man. “Delores, this is Dr. Pogo. He’s been the town’s physician for as long as I can remember. Dr Pogo, this is my wife, Delores.”  
“Very honored to meet you, ma’am.” He offered his hand and she took it.  
“Pogo, that’s an interesting name.”  
“It’s actually Pogorzelski, but after nearly a year of trying to teach the children of the town to pronounce it, Pogo it became.”   
Delores looked at Five, “Are you feeling ok? Why do you need the doctor?”  
“Oh no my dear, I’m not here on business. I stopped by to express my condolences as I was not able to attend your father-in-law’s funeral.” He shot a serious look to Five. “I would like to see all you boys in my office later today if you can manage.” Five nodded and Pogo looked at Delores, the grin returning. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Hargreeves.” He tilted his hat and took his leave of the couple.

Delores waited until Dr Pogo was out of earshot and pulled away from Five, smacking him on the chest as she pushed away. “Ouch! What the hell was that for?”  
“Quiet as a mouse?”  
Five just smiled. “If I recall, I was very quiet last night.”  
“Yes, but you know what certain…things…do to me.”  
His smiled widened. “Who heard?”  
“Klaus!”  
“Oh, don’t worry about Klaus. He likes to tease but he’s harmless.”  
“I am mortified! Your brother heard us…”   
“Doing things that married folk do?”  
“And then he said…” Her eyes started to fill with tears, and she cut herself off.  
“Said what?”  
“He said that we need to…” She sniffled, trying to get through the recap with some dignity. “Need to…have kids before Vanya.” Her lip started to tremble and Five pulled her into a hug, resting his head on top of hers.   
“He didn’t mean anything by it. How could he?”  
“I don’t know. I just. Sometimes wonder if you would have been better off not winning that poker game.”  
“Hey!” He pulled away so he could see her face. Putting a finger under her chin he lifted her head up to meet his gaze. “I fell in love with you. Not the idea of you giving me a bunch of kids. You are smart, funny, beautiful, and if we live two lifetimes together and we never have one child I will have no regrets. Not one, understand?” She nodded and sniffed. “Besides, now that you’ve met my family, maybe breeding is not the best course of action for me.”   
“I think you’d make a wonderful father.”  
“And you’d make the best mother, but we have to play the cards we’re dealt.” He leaned in and kissed her, wiping away tears with his thumb. “Ok?”  
“Ok.” The started walking back to the house, arm in arm. “But I am not having any more sex in that house.”  
“Fine.” They walked in silence until they reached the front porch. “How about in the barn?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that afternoon, Five was driving a very curious Klaus into town. “What exactly is this important meeting about anyway?”  
“I’m not sure. Dr. Pogo just said to gather up all my brothers and meet at his office this afternoon. So, that is what I’m doing.”  
They pulled the wagon up to the sheriff’s office and both men got out and headed toward the door. Five pulled the door open and made a grand gesture for Klaus to enter and his brother jokingly curtseyed and the two men chuckled before entering their brother’s office. Inside they found Luther, sitting alone, holding a pen to paper, not moving it one inch.  
“Luther…” As Klaus interrupted his thoughts, Luther quickly swiped the paper into his desk drawer and looked up at his brothers.   
“What?”  
“Nice to see you too.” Five wandered around the office looking at wanted posters and notices as Klaus filled Luther in on the afternoon’s plan. “We are all to meet at Dr. Pogo’s office for some very important news regarding…something…I guess.”  
“He didn’t mention anything to me.”  
“He stopped by the house today to see Mom and told Five. He told me…I’m telling you…and as soon as we find Diego, we will all be told!”  
“If he’s not here, or at the house, he’s down at the livery, his girlfriend and he meet there from time to time…it’s the one place of theirs her father hasn’t found out about yet.”  
“Is he still seeing that Wilmington girl? You know honestly I don’t know what he sees in that…person.” He noticed Five’s confused look and filled him in. “She is the most peculiar girl. Her father and she moved here a few years ago and Diego was smitten. Who knows why? She dresses like a man, curses, spits, and is always picking a fight over some such nonsense. She’s basically the anti-Delores.”   
“Her old man doesn’t like him?” Five perked up at learning something about his most mysterious brother.  
“It’s not that.” Luther stood up and started putting his coat on. “It’s just that no one is good enough for his Eudora.”  
“Eudora?”  
“Yeah but don’t call her that if you value your life.” Luther held the door open for his brothers who shuffled out onto the boardwalk. “She prefers ‘Patch,’ some silly nickname she got as a kid because of the holes in her britches.”   
“Well, let’s go see if we can tear Diego away from ‘Patch’ for a few minutes and go see what Dr. Pogo thinks is so important.”

Five was always alert and on his toes. As a kid he tried to head their father off before his wrath was aimed at the younger siblings, so he learned how to read people fast. As a teen, he found himself tangled up with the law (and more than a few spoken for ladies) so he quickly developed the ability to always have an escape plan. Adulthood found him gambling not only to make a living, but something he enjoyed. More than a few games his cockiness got the best of him and he found himself being run out of some Podunk town with a wad of cash in his pocket and a posse on his heels. Delores had helped him settle down quite a bit, and he no longer felt the need to fall in with the more despicable types he used to run with. He now found himself seeking out respectable games with men of better stature. He did not, however, forget his time being a less than upstanding member of society. As this was the case, it was not easy to surprise Five.

As the Hargreeves trio walked down the street toward the livery, Five ran through his head all the scenarios they might find Diego in. He found it always best to be prepared for anything. He quickly decided what he would say and do if they found the pair beginning to get amorous, amidst the throws of passion or even basking in the afterglow. He had no desire to see his brother in any of those situations but wanted to be ready so as only one of them had to endure the embarrassment. 

What he was not prepared for was the sight of a young woman, wearing a men’s work shirt and pants leaning back into a haystack with Diego’s head on her lap as she read poetry to him. The pair didn’t seem to notice the three men approaching them until Five cheerily declared, “You must be Eudora!”  
If looks could kill, Five would be dead where he stood. The woman’s eyes narrowed, and she unceremoniously shoved Diego off her lap to stand and square up to Five. “Who the fuck are you?”  
“Charming.” Five held out his hand as a peace offering. “Five. Your future in-law.”  
“What are you talking about?” Patch looked back at Diego who was standing up and brushing himself off. “What is he talking about?”  
Diego stepped forward and wedged himself between the two, Patch ready to kill and Five with his shit eating grin enjoying the whole situation. “This is my brother, Five.”  
“What kind of stupid name is Five?”  
“I got it because I’m the fifth in a long line of pretentious names and I’m good with numbers, hence, Five.” He knew that they had to get going but couldn’t help himself with one more jab. “Better than being named after holes in my pants.”  
Patch balled up her fists and tried to get past Diego. “You’re about to have one less brother.”  
Five put his hands up in surrender. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Patch is a perfectly lovely name for a perfectly lovely little girl.”  
“Little girl?!”  
Diego threw his arm out to stop her from rushing Five. “What the hell do you guys want?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four grown men crammed into a tiny waiting room was uncomfortable. More uncomfortable was the tension that was growing as they silently awaited Dr. Pogo to finish up with his current patient and call them back to his office. Luther was steaming because he wasn’t the first to be told there was to be a meeting, Diego was worried about the damage Five did to his relationship, Five wanted to go home to San Francisco, and Klaus simply didn’t enjoy doctor’s offices in general.

After what seemed like hours, the door to the back office opened and an elderly woman exited, followed by Pogo. She thanked him for whatever medicine he handed her and if she was startled by the sight of all the Hargreeves boys in one place, she didn’t show it. Simply nodding as she passed Luther and Diego and giving a courteous, “Sheriff, Deputy.” They nodded back and replied, Diego with a “Ma’am,” and Luther going with, “Mrs. Gallagher.”

“Boys.” Five couldn’t help but think that most people couldn’t really get away with calling them ‘boys’ but Pogo had known their family for the entire time they lived in this town. Adding to that fact that Five estimated Pogo was about 150 years old, everyone must seem like a kid to him. He ushered them all into the back room which was slightly bigger and closed the door behind them. 

Five and Klaus sat on a couch along the wall and Luther sat in the chair in front of Pogo’s desk as Diego leaned against one wall, they were as ready as they were going to get for the information Pogo had for them. “I have some news about your father’s death.” Luther sat up straight and Five noticed from across the room that Diego was rolling his eyes. “I’m afraid it isn’t good news.”  
Luther sighed and slouched again. “He did kill himself.”  
Pogo took in a sharp breath. “No. He didn’t.”  
“What?” Diego was next to the desk in a flash. “Of course he did. The gun…it was…laying there. Why would a killer leave it?”  
“I’m afraid, dear boy, that someone desperately wanted it to look like a suicide, but they made one fatal mistake.”  
Realization dawned on Five. “What hand was the gun in?”  
“His right,” Diego snapped. “Dad was right-handed.”  
“Yes, he wrote with his right hand, but he did most everything else with the left, remember? Sword fighting, shooting, hell, he even smacked us around with the left hand.”  
“Yeah, but who would want Dad dead?” Luther said, trying to accept what he just heard.  
Klaus muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Five to hear, “Other than half the people in this room?”  
“I would like to think no one dear boy,” Pogo came around the desk to put a hand on Luther’s shoulder in comfort, “But your father did make a few enemies during his lifetime.”  
Five didn’t notice he was sitting on the edge of the couch but felt himself falling back on it. “Well, shit. Now what do we do?”  
“We figure out who killed Dad!” Luther boomed.  
“Or not.” All eyes fell on Klaus. “I mean, would he do the same for us?”

Luther stood up and headed toward the door. “Well, you guys may not care what happened to Dad but in any case, there has been a murder so Diego and I are going to find out who did it and bring them in.”  
Diego got up and started after him. “He’s right, it is our job. You guys can head home though. This doesn’t have to be your fight.”  
Five and Klaus looked at each other before sighing in resignation. They both rose off the couch and jogged to catch up to their brothers as Five called out. “Wait, we’re coming with you!”

The four men entered the Sheriff’s office in silence. Luther sat at his desk and put his head in his hands. “Where the hell do we even start?”  
“Well,” Five spoke up. “We can start with a list of anyone who Dad had ever made mad enough to kill him. Wait, scratch that. Better we make a list of people who ‘didn’t’ want to kill him. It’ll be shorter.”  
“This isn’t funny, Five.”  
“Kinda funny,” Klaus shrugged his shoulders and got a thankful look from Five.  
Before Luther could answer, the door to the office opened and a man in a grey flannel suit walked in. It was Hargreeve’s lawyer.  
Luther’s face softened at the sight of a civilian. “Hey Mr. Hunt. What can I do for you?”  
“Sheriff, I found something.” He looked around and found that he was surrounded by 4/5 of the Hargreeves siblings. “Oh good, this concerns all of you as well.” His face fell into a grimace. “Or, it doesn’t concern you…which should concern you.”  
“Spit it out, attorney-man” Klaus was losing his patients for most everyone today.  
“Uh, it’s your father’s will. It says that everything he has, the company, the money, all of it should be split evenly among his living heirs.”  
“Ok,” Luther shook his head in confusion.” You told us that already.”  
“Yes, but there is one more thing I didn’t know until I found some paperwork and then sat down and had a chat with your mother to confirm.”  
“Confirm what?”  
“Reginald Hargreeves only has ONE living heir.”  
“What?” The four men said nearly in unison.  
“Your mother and father only had one biological child. The rest of you are adopted. Or, bought, more appropriately. There doesn’t seem to be anything legal about how he acquired you.”  
“What the hell are you saying?” Luther snapped.  
“I’m saying that the only one who is actually Reginald and Grace Hargreeves child…is Vanya.”

You could hear a pin drop as the four men sat in stunned silence. The silence was interrupted when Five started to laugh. The rest of the room looked on in shock as he full on belly laughed before turning to the lawyer. “So, you’re telling me that not only did that bastard illegally take us from our families, but he made me live with his fucking name?!” He gestured to Luther. “Are we even twins?”  
“I don’t know.” Hunt stammered. “You’d have to ask your mother.”  
Five’s belly laugh turned into something of a hysterical wheeze as he processed this new information. “Jesus, the man can’t stop torturing us, even from beyond the grave!”


	7. Mom's Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a story/flash back, we find out how the heck Grace ended up with Reginald and what possessed her to keep her secret for so long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first half is obviously a flash back (hence the '22 years ago') but I wanted to point out that when I say 'present day' later, I mean present day in the story...not 2020. We are still in the old west. I was just too lazy to come up with an exact year.

22 years ago

Grace was stunned at the sheer number of people waiting on the dock for the ship’s arrival. She grasped on to the handle of her suitcase and tried to calm her nerves as the boat made its final docking preparations. She scanned the crowd wondering what the next chapter of her life would be like. She clutched her papers to her chest and tried her best to not look as nervous as she was.

She joined the other girls as they exited the ship and walked over to the sign that told them of the meeting spot arranged by the Mail Order Bride company. There were several men standing in a group near the sign. There were men of every size and age, most were holding photos and paperwork, and some even had flowers. There was an older woman reading names from a paper and directing the girls to their new husbands. 

“Grace Novak?” She jerked her head toward the sound of her name.  
“Yes ma’am, I’m Grace Novak.”  
The woman didn’t get a chance to direct her. A tall, imposing man walked up to her and looked her up and down as if inspecting a prize mare. “Miss Novak?”  
“Yes, sir.”  
“It says in your profile that you speak English and have worked with children. Is that accurate?”  
“Yes, Sir.”  
He took a moment to look her up and down once again. “You’ll do.” He turned and started to walk purposely down the dock. Grace looked at the woman with the paper and was given a simple nod before the woman went back to herding the other girls. Grace gripped her bag tighter and she followed the man toward her new life. 

Reginald Hargreeves barely spoke to her the rest of the day. The only words she heard were the occasional ‘keep up girl’ and ‘you do understand English?’ Even his ‘I do’ at the quick wedding ceremony that afternoon seemed to inconvenience him. She followed him to a hotel instead of a home. He explained, briefly that they were leaving in the morning to head out west where he was going to expand his fortune in the cattle business.  
“That sounds exciting, Sir.” She tried to be optimistic, thinking of how back home she had nothing, and was near desperate when her family decided that this was her best option.  
“Your job will be to raise my children into smart, respectful young men and women who can succeed me some day. I will not be handing my fortune over to a bunch of miscreants.” Grace simply nodded her response and decided to make the best of her situation. She may have to live with this man and even be intimate with him, but she truly loved children and would throw herself into caring for them.

The next morning, they headed out on the long journey to their new home. Reginald started talking a bit more to her, if only to give instructions. She was just happy to not sit in silence. A few days into their trip they were riding past a small family farm and several children ran out of the house to wave at them as they passed. Grace smiled and waved back and to her surprise, Reginald turned the wagon around and pulled up to the house as a weary looking man and woman exited the house following their large brood. Two small boys about three years old were clinging to her skirt, not as outgoing as their older siblings.

Reginald hopped off the wagon and strode over to the parents. Grace wasn’t close enough to hear what they were saying but she couldn’t help herself and jumped down to greet the other children. The parents and the two boys walked back into the house followed by Reginald, leaving Grace outside to answer the children’s questions. There were 6 of them and she nearly got dizzy trying to give each of them their turn. She answered questions about her dress, her accent, what her husband was doing with their parents, and if she was a princess. 

After nearly 15 minutes, Reginald came out of the house followed by the parents. The woman had clearly been crying and the man didn’t look much happier. Reginald didn’t say a word as he reached Grace and the wagon. He turned to the woman and took one of the small boys out of her arms and lifted him up into the back of the wagon, followed by the other boy who was standing near. Grace’s face didn’t hide her confusion and she looked back and forth from the couple to her husband, hoping someone would fill her in. Reginald held his hand out for her and helped her into the back of the wagon to join the two boys. He turned to the parents and asked, “Which one is the oldest?”  
The man stared stone faced and spit out, “The dark haired one, his name is…”  
“His name is what I give him.” This led the woman to start crying again and the man pulled her into his arms as Reginald got back into the drivers seat and urged the horses on, leaving a family behind and Grace in the back looking at two boys, not knowing exactly what was happening.

As she watched the home disappear with distance, Reginald called back to her. “The dark haired one is older by five minutes. He will be Reginald the 5th. You may name the other one.”  
Grace put her hand on top of the blonde boy’s head, stroking his hair as his eyes filled up with tears. She leaned to poke her head out the front of the wagon to speak with Reginald. “What just happened?”  
“I decided that waiting for you to give me the appropriate number of children to successfully run a family business was not practical. That family clearly had more children then they could afford so I made them an offer.”  
“You bought these children?”  
“Madam,” Reginald never looked back at her as he addressed her. “Perhaps someone who came to America under the circumstances you did should not judge the methods with which we got these boys. Your job is to tend to our children.”  
Grace sat back in the wagon, now looking at two boys who were terrified to be with strangers. She gave them her sweetest smile and reached out to take their little hands in hers. She spoke clearly and as gently as she could. “My name is Grace. I’m…going to be your mother from now on.” The two boys looked at each other, trying to understand. “I know this is scary, but I will take care of you and give you all the love you deserve. Now.” She put her hand on the dark haired one’s cheek. “Your name is now Reginald, and you…” She patted the blonde’s arm and he looked at her expectantly. “How about Luther? It’s my father’s name.” The two boys’ crying abated and the blonde one even smiled at her. She new it was going to be tough but was resigned to be strong for her boys.

Two more days into the journey, Grace was sitting in the back of the wagon, with Reginald Jr on her lap and Luther sitting next to her and the trio was singing a silly song she remembered from her childhood and taught them. They spent most of the trip like this, singing songs and learning anything that Grace could teach a couple of rambunctious 3-year olds from numbers and letters to shapes and colors. 

The happy trio were interrupted as the wagon slowed to a stop. Grace wondered where they were as Reginald said that the next town was another day away. She moved Reginald Jr off of her lap and told him and Luther to play quietly as ‘Mommy’ went to see why they stopped. When she climbed out the back of the wagon, she saw Reginald talking to a very old Mexican man who was standing near an equally old woman and a very small child. This boy was smaller than Luther and Reginald Jr. 

She cautiously approached and recognized the Spanish they were speaking even though she didn’t understand it. Even while speaking another language, Grace could hear the curtness in Hargreeves’ voice. She didn’t need to know the language, however, when she saw him take out his billfold and reach in for a stack of cash. She immediately looked to the little boy, clinging to the leg of the old woman. She offered him a smile, trying to reassure him that everything was going to be alright. She had no idea if that was a true statement, but her children needed to believe it.

Hargreeves handed the cash over to the old man and turned back toward the wagon. He addressed Grace as he walked by, “Collect the boy, he is coming with us.”  
Grace nodded and held her hand out to the boy, trying as hard as she could to seem as safe as possible to the little 2-year-old. Finally, the old woman took his hand and guided it to Grace’s. Grace tried to smile and whispered, so as not to be heard by Hargreeves, “What is his name?”  
“Diego,” The man told her.  
“Come on Diego, there are some very special somebodies I’d like you to meet.” She took the boy’s hand and led him to the wagon. After lifting him up into the back and climbing in herself, she tried to engage her now three boys and comfort them as best she could under the circumstances.

Nearly a week went by and they had not stopped at any more homes. She found out through what little small talk Hargreeves allowed, that Diego’s parents died and those were his grandparents. They felt that they couldn’t raise a young boy at their age and thought that Hargreeves could give him a fighting chance. She wasn’t so sure about her husband, but she sure would try to give them all a fighting chance.

Grace figured that her small family was complete as they finally reached their destination. The wagon rolled through town and straight to a sprawling ranch house nearly a mile outside of town. When they stopped, she saw that the house was currently occupied as the man of the house came out of the front door with a shotgun in hand, aiming at the wagon. Grace took Diego off of her lap and twisted to put him in the back where he would be moderately safe. 

Hargreeves addressed the man with an air of annoyance rather than fear. “Now now, Mr. Peabody. No need to resort to violence. I am not the enemy here.”  
“The hell you aint!” The man yelled back as Grace noticed a woman and small child no older than Reginald Jr and Luther peeking out from the front door.  
“I merely purchased a foreclosed property from the bank. Had you kept up on your payments, this would still be your home. Since you did not, it is now mine. You have had ample time to collect your things and get off my property. I am going to take my family back to town and get a hot meal. On the way back out, I will be stopping by the sheriff who will accompany us back. If you are not off my land in that time, I will have you arrested.”  
Grace saw the woman step out and put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Harold, if you go to jail, what will we do?” Harold seemed to ponder that and as Reginald urged the horses to turn around, Grace saw him lower his gun and his shoulders fell in defeat.

The whole family sat down to supper at the town diner. Grace could tell that Hargreeves did not approve of the place. She felt that he did not approve of anything, but she was determined to make the best of it for her, and for her children. She was cutting Luther’s food up for him when Hargreeves addressed her as if they had known each other for years and she was privy to all his plans. “I was hoping to get one more boy.” He said between bites of his steak which, if Grace was being totally honest, she couldn’t wait to show him how a good one should taste. “That way if you cannot produce an heir, or simply not a boy, I will still have a good staff to run the place when I get too old.”  
Grace cringed at him calling his children ‘staff,’ but for the past two weeks (her wedding seemed ages ago), she had found herself being less and less surprised at anything that came out of Reginald Hargreeves’ mouth.

After supper, Hargreeves left her and the boys at the wagon as he went to fetch the sheriff for the trip back to the ranch. She was watching Luther and Reginald Jr play some form of toddler tag as Diego clung to her skirt, as he had been doing nearly non-stop since they picked him up. She could hear some women talking outside a dress shop and although she was brought up to be a polite lady, she couldn’t help but eavesdrop.  
“That poor baby, what are they going to do with him?”  
“I guess he’ll be shipped back east to an orphanage. Heaven knows no one here can take him.”  
“I would but we’re barely making ends meet as it is, adding another mouth…and a baby at that?”  
Grace took a deep breath and scooped Diego up. Keeping one eye on the twins, she took the few steps back to be next to the women. “I’m so sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear. Is everything alright?”  
The women looked at her and then at each other. Finally, the urge to gossip overtook one of them and she explained. “There was a sweet little german couple who just immigrated here. They bought a rinky dink little farm just outside of town. Real quiet, kept to themselves mostly. Well, she had a baby about a year ago, died in childbirth.”  
“Oh my,” Grace’s hand went to her mouth in shock.  
“And just yesterday, the husband finally cracked, he killed himself last night.”  
“Oh that’s horrible!”  
“And the worst part, he left behind the baby! Who does that? At least make arrangements for him first, that poor little boy is going to grow up without parents.”

Grace took it all into consideration and as Hargreeves strolled back to her with the sheriff, she decided to be bold for the first time in her life. She didn’t address her husband, just going straight to the sheriff. “Excuse me, sheriff?” Hargreeves stared at her in disbelief but waited to see what she was up to. “I heard about a little boy whose father, um…died last night.”  
“Yeah, the German kid, what about him?”  
“Well,” She looked at Hargreeves and took a chance. “We’d like to adopt him.”

The ride back to the ranch was in total silence. Grace tried to gauge if Hargreeves was mad at her but was to frightened to ask. When they arrived, the Sheriff got off his horse and went ahead to check the house as the Hargreeves family stayed where they were in the wagon. Finally, Hargreeves spoke. “You will make a fine wife.” He never looked her in the eye while speaking. “It was bold of you to ask about the boy without checking with me first, but I like the initiative. Especially since I told you I’d like to get one more.” Grace felt herself relax a bit at that. “But understand me now, woman.” He turned to her and looked her straight in the eye. “There will be no more of this ‘free expression.’ You are my wife and are to be the mother to these children. Any further incidents of you going over my head will be met with punishment. Do you understand?”  
Grace swallowed, hard. “Yes, sir.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Present day

“One of the women from town brought you to me the next day. She told me that your father’s name was Klaus, so I decided to give it to you.” Klaus sat in stunned silence as did the rest of the family as they gathered around Grace to hear the story of how they all came to be the Hargreeves family. “I taught you all the best I could as your father and I tried to have a baby of our own. Finally, two years after arriving in town, Vanya came along.” She smiled at the thought of her only daughter and couldn’t help but wonder if her brothers were angry at her for being their mother’s only real child.

“I’m sorry that I never told you, but I didn’t want to hurt any of you. I knew that we all had a hard life ahead of us and none of you needed the added stress of that information. Besides,” She lowered her eyes as they filled up with tears. “I love you all so much, I thought that if I said out loud that I wasn’t your real mother, you would hate me.”  
“Oh Mom,” whispered Diego as he slid closer to Grace on the couch and pulled her into a hug.  
“There is nothing you could do to make us hate you,” he spoke for, he hoped, his whole family.  
There were a few nods, and some vocal confirmations before Klaus finally joined Diego and Grace, throwing his arms around them both. “You are our mother! It doesn’t matter how we all got together.”

The family bonding moment was interrupted by the front door swinging wide open and Leonard charging into the sitting room. “Hey, have you guys seen your house?”  
“What?” Luther declared and bolted up and followed Leonard out of the house. The whole family followed and there were gasps as they saw that on the side of the house in crudely painted letters were the words, ‘The Hargreeves family has yet to suffer.’


	8. The Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hargreeves deal with the message on the side of the house.

The words on the side of the house threw the Hargreeves family into panic mode. Grace was crying in Diego’s arms as Luther questioned Leonard about what he saw. “Nothing. I was just coming here to help Grace with that broken step and I saw it.”  
Luther frowned as he touched the paint. “It’s still tacky, we haven’t been here more than a half hour, he couldn’t have gotten far. I’m going to search the property and see if I can find any evidence.”  
“You sure it’s a good idea to be going off alone?” Klaus asked Luther, trying not to let his voice waver. “When there’s a psycho trying to kill us all?”  
Delores grabbed onto Five’s jacket sleeve and gasped. Five called to Klaus, “Seriously?”  
“What? I’m just saying that maybe we all should adopt the buddy system until Luther and Diego find this creep.”  
“Klaus is right.” Diego called from the other side of the porch. “We should keep together. No one goes off alone.”

Five took a very shaken Delores to the side and put his hands on her arms, forcing her to look him in the eye. “I need you to go pack your bags. Quickly and then meet me back down here.”  
“We’re leaving?”  
“No. Just you. I want you on the next stage out of town.” Delores started shaking her head as he continued. “Don’t argue with me. I need to help my brothers, but I can’t do that if I don’t know that you are safe.”  
“Five…”  
“Delores, during all of our time together, have I ever ordered you around or made you feel like your voice doesn’t matter?”  
She dropped her head, “No.”  
“Then you know how important this is, or I wouldn’t insist.” He put his finger under her chin and lifted her eyes to his again. “I need you to go.” She nodded and headed into the house to go pack.

Five turned to his twin. “What’s the plan?”  
“Alright. You take Delores to the stage, Diego, go with him. On the way back, you can pick up Vanya. School should be getting out soon and someone should be there when it does. Then, you come back here. Klaus and I will search the property for any sign of who did this, and Dave and Ben can stay with Mom.” Everyone nodded their approval and understanding of the plan.  
“I want to check on Eudora. Make sure she’s alright.” Diego had let go of Grace and was walking past Luther to the wagon.  
“It’s not a good idea for you to go alone.”  
“I’ll go with him.” Leonard spoke up, causing Five and Diego to pass each other suspicious looks but Diego simply nodded to him as Delores came out the door with her bags. She hurried to the wagon and Five helped her in and the group was off to town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wagon rode into town just as the school bell was signaling the end of another day. Diego dropped Five and Delores off at the stage station and urged the horses toward the schoolhouse, the sight of Vanya waving to the children as they all went their separate ways on the horizon.  
The stage pulled in and Five handed the bags to the man and turned to Delores, offering her his hand to help her into the carriage. “I’m sorry, I know you’re worried but one of us worrying is a slight better than both of us worrying.” He leaned in and pressed his forehead to hers and they stood in silence for a moment.  
“I know.” She placed a hand on his cheek and pressed her lips to his, hoping that this wouldn’t be their last kiss. “You be careful Reginald Hargreeves the 5th.”   
He shook his head and smiled. “I will.” She threw her arms around him and held on until the driver called to them that it was time to go. Five helped her into the coach and stood in the street as it rode off out of town.

The family wagon pulled up beside him with Vanya driving. He took one last look at the stage as it rounded a corner and disappeared from his view before he climbed in next to his sister and took the reigns and they started in the opposite direction out of town. Vanya gave him a concerned look, “Would you mind telling me what the hell is going on?” Five sighed and filled her in during their ride back to the ranch. When he was done talking, she sat for a moment, trying to process it all before finally saying, “Who would want to hurt us?”  
“I don’t know. All I know is that we need to stick together until we find out who it is, and Luther can arrest him.”  
Vanya’s eyes fell to the floorboard as they rode in silence. She noticed something peeking out from under her spot and grabbed it, immediately recognizing it. “What’s that?” Five asked.  
“It’s Leonard’s journal. He’s never without it.”  
“He must have dropped it on the ride to town. Everything’s been kind of hectic.”  
She held it to her chest, almost hugging it. “I’m pretty sure he’s been writing poetry. Maybe about me.”  
Five couldn’t help but feel happy for his sister. If anyone deserved love, it was her…even if it was from Leonard Peabody. “Well, let’s here one!”  
“No, I couldn’t!” She clutched the book tighter to her chest. “That would betray his trust. As much as I would love to read one, I will wait until he comes to dinner and ask him.” She put her nose in the air which Five couldn’t help but recognize from their childhood when she was scolding her ‘naughty older brothers’ from doing something against Mom’s wishes. “It’s what I teach my students, so I will lead by example.” Five rolled his eyes but smiled. There truly was a family worth fighting for here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner was a silent affair, everyone seemingly only eating out of necessity. There was a bit of tension in the air as Diego and Leonard had not come home yet. Luther had hoped out loud that they were onto something and they would come back with more answers then he and Klaus found. It was the only verbal communication at the table as he was merely answered with heads nodding and the sound of Five pushing his food around with his fork.

The door suddenly swung open and in stumbled Eudora trying to drag a very bloody, nearly unconscious Diego whose arm was slung over her shoulder. Grace gasped and shot out of her seat, rushing to help usher her son to the couch. Laying him down, she began to assess his injuries and Vanya started gathering bandages as Eudora spoke between heavy breaths. “I found him in the livery…I don’t know how long he’d been there but…I’m pretty sure he’s got a couple of broken ribs…and that arm isn’t in too good a shape neither.” Luther stepped in to pull her aside so Vanya could take her place and help Grace. He had to lift her off the ground to keep her from breaking free and rushing to Diego’s side. “Patch! PATCH! Let them work!” She stopped struggling so he set her down tentatively, letting her go once he was certain she would stay put.

Grace was gently shushing Diego as he started to mumble, pushing her hands away and trying to reach toward Luther. Luther stepped close and knelt down next to his brother, ignoring a stern look from Grace. “What is it? Do you know who did this to you?”  
On closer inspection, Luther winced at his brother’s condition. His lip was split, and one eye was completely swollen shut, looking more and more purple by the minute. He had blood streaming from a large gash on the top of his head and his one good eye was full of tears as he reached out and grabbed Luther’s coat. “P-p-p-peabody”  
Vanya’s hands freeze. “No.”  
Diego nods and Luther grabs his hand, pulling Diego’s focus to him. “How?”  
Diego struggles against Grace, trying to sit up and looks at Luther with as much concentration as he can muster. “Told me…Patch…in the stable…” Patch’s lower lip started trembling and the whole room stayed silent, allowing their injured brother to go on. “Three…big guys…jumped me…” He finally let himself fall back onto the couch and Grace went back to work. 

Vanya seemed to be in a trance as she stood and walked over to the end table where she had set Leonard’s journal when she and Five had gotten home. Slowly turning it over in her hands, Five watched as she seemed to struggle with whether or not to open it. After a moment, she looked up to meet his eyes, her’s filled with tears and she slowly handed him the book. Five took it from her and opened it, as he read, each and every head with the exception of Grace and Patch turned to him in expectation.

“Jesus.” He softly declared, turning page after page of the journal. His family sat silently as long as possible before Klaus finally asked, “What is it?”  
Five looked up from the book momentarily. “It’s his whole life laid out. Chronicling each and every time he feels someone wronged him. There has to be 50 incidents here…half of which involve Hargreeves’. They are mostly just bits of a story; some I don’t even know how to interpret.

He started to read snippits from the book, each of them trying to decipher if they were valid threats or not. “Age 3, Reginald Hargreeves stole my family’s fortune?”  
Grace piped in, “Your father bought this ranch from the bank…it no longer belonged to the Peabodys.”  
Five continued, “Age 5, Lisa Erdman stole my pencil. Age 8, Diego Hargreeves beat me in a fight.”  
“Which Leonard started!” Klaus offered.  
“Age 13, Five Hargreeves stole my girl. Age 16, David Harris tripped me. Age 20, Luther Hargreeves took my father away.” He looked up at Luther. “What does that even mean?”  
“Everyone knew that his father beat on his mother, but no one ever did anything about it. The day I became sheriff, I hauled his ass to jail, and it turns out he was wanted in a few states for other crimes and he spent the rest of his life in prison.”

Vanya finally broke her silence to whimper, “I’m so sorry.”  
Klaus strode over to her and pulled her into a hug. “You have nothing to be sorry about little sis…this is all on him. He played you honey.” She sniffled and leaned into him as Five suddenly stood up and started pacing. Something he’s done since he was a kid when he was about to be brilliant. “Shit!” Grace didn’t even scold him for his language, just watched with the rest of the family as he cracked the case wide open. 

“He’s making the punishment fit the crime!”   
“What?” Luther asked what they were all thinking.  
“Think about it. You ‘took his father away’ so he took yours.” It didn’t go unnoticed that Five referred to Reginald as Luther’s father, and not the rest of them. “Diego beat him up as a kid…he had Diego beat up. Dad ‘stole his family fortune’…what better way to steal it back than to marry his only heir?” Vanya’s face fell again as she felt the familiar pang of embarrassment.  
“Five.” Luther nearly whispered.  
“What?”  
Luther pointed out a passage in the book. “Five Hargreeves stole my girl.”  
Five’s face went stark white. “Delores!”


	9. Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Leonard have Delores? Will they find her in time? Do we feel bad for the actor who played Leonard yet? No? Me neither.

Delores’ eyes slowly opened to a darkened room. Aside from the fear of not knowing where she was and the utterly terrifying realization that she was tied up, she was grateful for the darkness. The splitting headache she had from being knocked unconscious would not be feeling any better had she opened her eyes to a bright light. She waited a moment until her eyes adjusted to the darkness and tried to take stock of her situation.

She remembers traveling in the stage. She suddenly heard the driver halting the horses and felt the carriage come to an abrupt stop. She heard arguing, and then a gunshot. Then, a man wearing a mask opened up the door and grabbed her, pulling her out onto the road before she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head, then nothing.

She was in a cabin, a barely used one if the dust was any indication. She was sitting propped up against the headboard of a bed with her hands bound to the rusty frame. She seemed to be alone but wasn’t sure how long she had been this way or how long her solitude would remain. Surely the man would soon be back and, not wanting to find out what his plans were for her, she started making plans of her own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five tried to stay calm as he, Luther, and Eudora ran their horses along the stage route. Having already checked Leonard’s room above the saloon and found it empty, this was their only other course of action. He was trying not to let his head fill with what ifs, he simply hoped that she got to the train station before Leonard got to her. As they rounded a corner, he knew that she didn’t. The stage was stopped, the horses grazing near on the side of the rode. As they got closer, he saw a set of feet peeking out from the backside of the coach. He launched himself off his horse before it was completely stopped and ran around the other side of the carriage. Seeing the driver’s lifeless body, he ran over to the coach and threw open the door. 

Luther reached Five just in time for him to hit his knees and start shaking. Luther looked into the coach and saw no sign of Delores, except one of her fancy hairpins laying on the floor, probably pulled out in the struggle. He looked down at his brother and Five muttered to anyone who would listen, “I can’t…I can’t lose her.”  
Luther put his hand on Five’s shoulder. “You’re not going to. We’ll find her.”

Luther helped his brother to his feet and the pair walked around the side of the carriage to find Patch kneeling, studying the ground near a path leading off into the woods. “They went this way.”  
Five refused to let his eyes fill with tears as he looked at her in shock. “How do you know?”  
“My pa taught me how to track. I’m not the best but…” She pointed to a set of horse tracks coming in behind the stage. “This here horse has a messed-up shoe, you see how it leaves a funny mark not like the others?” Five and Luther stared at the tracks, in awe of Diego’s girlfriend. “When that same horse heads this way,” She pointed to the path, “Its tracks go deeper, meaning it’s carrying more weight than when it came in.”  
“Delores.” Five couldn’t help but smile at the tinge of hope he felt.  
She nodded. “Delores.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Delores couldn’t help but think that Five would be proud of her in this very moment. She was a city girl to her core, never once thinking that she would ever be in the situation she currently found herself in. She had taken both of her shoes off and slowly lifted them to her tied hands. She took the laces out of each of them, and retied the two shoes together, making the string between them as long as she could manage. She now had one of the shoes back on, using her foot to swing the other shoe, bolo style in an attempt to reach the sewing basket that was sitting on the end table next to the bed. With any luck, there would be a scissors in there that she could use to cut herself loose. At this moment, she also couldn’t help but think that after knowing she was safe, Five would definitely laugh at how she must look right now.

After what seemed like a hundred attempts, she finally swung the loose shoe just right, landing it in the basket. She took in a deep breath and held it as she slowly slid the shoe backward, trying not to tip it over, but to allow the handle to hook on the shoe so she could bring it over to her. Her leg started to cramp as she lifted the shoe up, the basket handle precariously teetering on the top of it. She creeped her leg back over and the basket spilled out in front of her on the bed. A shiny pair of scissors falling out, causing her to nearly cry with joy.

Kicking the shoe off, she used one foot to take off the sock of her other foot. Cautiously gripping the scissors between her toes, she bent her leg to bring them up to her tied hands. When she felt the shears in her fingers, she finally let out that breath. Her celebration was short lived, however, for as soon as she began to open the scissors, the door to the cabin opened.

Delores looked up to the doorway and immediately relaxed when she saw who it was. “Oh, thank God! Leonard!” She tried to shove her hands as far out to him as she could manage. “You need to cut me loose quickly; I don’t know when he’ll be back.” Leonard walked up to her and took the scissors from her hand and she pulled her hands as far apart as she could to give him a better angle to cut the ropes. What she didn’t expect was for him to turn around and cross the room, placing the scissors down on the dresser. “Leonard?”  
“Shut up.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luther, Five, and Patch slow to a halt when they reach a small clearing that housed a rickety old hunting cabin, clearly not used in a very long time. Out front of the cabin was Leonard’s horse. “I’m going to kill that son-of-a bitch.” Five climbs off his horse and is only stopped by Luther scrambling off his own mount and pulling Five back. “Get the hell off me!” Five hisses.  
“You don’t know where she is. You can’t just go barreling in there, you’re likely to get her killed.” Five simply stares at his brother, a mix of anger and acceptance on his face. “And everyone says you’re the smart one.” Luther mumbles as he moves in closer, hiding behind some brush to get a better look at the layout of the cabin and surrounding area. 

Five feels a hand on his shoulder and looks to find Patch giving him a sympathetic smile and a nod as if to tell him that even though he doesn’t want to accept it…this is Luther’s wheel house and he needs to let him take the lead. Five nods back to her and bites his lip as he waits for Luther to come up with a plan. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leonard starts mumbling to himself, barely audible to Delores. The few phrases she can make out make her very scared, very fast. He seemed to be psyching himself up for something. “He took your girl Leonard. He took her to the hayloft and…did things to her.” He suddenly looked over at Delores and twisted up his face as if he was in pain. He moved over to the side of the bed and addressed her. “I’m sorry. This is not your fault.” Her eyes grew wide with fear as he started to undo his pants and leaned closer to her. “He needs to pay for what he did. I don’t want to do this…I have to.” 

Suddenly Delores remembered an odd conversation she had with Five on their way back to San Francisco just days after being married. He talked about the west being mostly lawless territory and that she needed to know how to defend herself. She had chuckled and asked why she needed such nonsense when she had a big strong husband to take care of her. She remembered very clearly that he turned to her with a serious look on his face. He took her face in his hands and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, my dear. But there are parts of my life that are a bit dangerous, and I need to know that you stay safe until I can get to you. And make no mistake,” His eyes bore deep into hers. ‘I will always get to you. You need to be prepared to at least give yourself a fighting chance.” 

She thought about that conversation from time to time and wondered when she would ever have to use the defense technique that he taught her. In four years, she nearly forgot the simple yet powerful piece of advice because as Five’s gambling slowed and turned to more friendly games than dangerous ones, she found herself less and less likely to ever need to use it…until today. The feel of the bed shifting under the weight of Leonard’s knee on it brought her back to reality and she took a deep breath, took aim…and fired.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The silence of the night was cut in two by a blood curdling scream. Five nearly tripped trying to get to his feet at the thought of Delores making such a noise. Luther gripped his arm, keeping him in place as Patch wondered aloud, “What that a guy?”  
Suddenly, the door to the cabin swung open and Leonard came stumbling out, both hands gripping his groin, he was doubled over in pain and the trio of trackers simply took a beat to look at each other. 

Luther stood up and casually walked over to Leonard, the smaller man not even noticing his presence as he was curled up in a ball on the forest floor, crying and cursing that ‘red headed whore’ between sobs. Five couldn’t help himself but smile. He strolled past the heap of pain on the ground and jogged up the stairs and into the cabin. 

Delores was gearing up for round two as she heard someone come up the stairs. When she saw her husband rush through the door, all the tension in her body seemed to melt away. She was safe. He ran over to her and without even untying her, started peppering her with kisses all over her face, muttering as he did how much he loved her and what an amazing woman she was. Delores allowed the praise for a moment before silencing him. “Five, honey?”  
“Yes?” He stopped and looked at her.  
“Can you untie me please?”  
“Oh shit, sorry.” He pulled a knife out and cut the ropes, allowing her to throw her arms around him and melt into his embrace. She kissed his ear before half sobbing, half laughing, “Never send me away again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Delores is a BAMF.


	10. One Year Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hargreeves gather for Christmas the year following the funeral.

Grace was bustling around the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the Christmas goose that she had been cooking all day. She took a look at the new dining room table that Ben and Dave had built to accommodate their growing family. It barely fit in the dining room and anyone sitting near the window really had to squeeze to get back there but during the past year her family had grown so much, the larger table was a necessity.

As if on cue, Ben came down the stairs and greeted her as politely as always. It had been a year since Klaus, Dave and he had moved back into the house, but Ben still insisted on addressing her as Mrs. Hargreeves. Maybe in another year, she could convince him to call her Grace. She felt a bit uncomfortable at the sight of her youngest son coming down the stairs, hand in hand with Dave but remembered Klaus explaining that they couldn’t be themselves in the outside world but wanted very badly to be able to be themselves with her. She was happy to have her boy home and safe, so she tried to accept it. Day by day, she got a little more comfortable with it.

Ben and Dave (Grace noticed they were better well behaved than her actual children) were setting the table when Luther and Allison arrived. Grace greeted them with hugs and Allison immediately went to work, helping in the kitchen as the two women discussed wedding plans as they always did when together these days.

Vanya came running down the stairs and rushed the door, opening it as Diego helped a very pregnant Patch across the threshold. Vanya took over and ushered her to the most comfortable chair and immediately started to fuss over her as Patch pretended not to like it. Grace called to Diego as he took off his coat. “Will Mr. Wilmington be joining us this evening?”  
“No. He’s still sore at us for eloping.”  
“Yeah,” Patch piped up. “He said he’s not talking to us until he has a grandbaby to fuss over.” Grace smiled and shook her head as she went back to the potatoes.

The next hour was spent chatting and laughing with Grace occasionally having to chase Klaus away from the gifts under the tree that he kept trying to shake. “Honestly, that boy never grew up.” She said with a small smirk on her face, and a wink sent to her youngest. It was nearly time to eat when the door opened again, Grace sighing in relief that they finally made it. 

Five poked his head in and everyone yelled out a greeting. He was still getting used to that but seeing as they were the only ones who didn’t stay in town, it was expected that their welcome may be a little louder. Stepping into the house, he cleared his throat as everyone was settling down to dinner. “Can I have everyone’s attention?” His family looked up and gave him curious looks as he hadn’t yet left the doorway. “There’s someone we’d like you to meet.”  
The room got silent as he swung the door open, and in stepped Delores. There was a little girl no more than three clinging to her skirt. She noticed the large group of people whose eyes were all on her, and she buried her face into the skirt as well. Five chuckled. “She’s a bit shy.”

Grace stood up and walked over to her oldest. “Five? When?”  
“We got her two months ago.”   
Delores grinned. “You have no idea how hard it was to not write. We really wanted to surprise you on Christmas.”  
“Well,” Luther stuttered. “You sure as hell did that!”  
“Luther!” Grace scolded and then turned her attention to the small girl. “Hi honey.” She knelt down to get on her level. “I’m your Grandma, Grace.” The little girl slowly dislodged herself from Delores’ skirt and looked up at Five, smiling. She pointed at his mother and said in what Grace thought was the most adorable little voice she ever heard, “Gamma?”  
“Yes honey, that’s gamma.”  
Delores whispered, “we’ve been showing her your picture. We wanted to make sure she knew who you were.”

Suddenly the little girl dislodged herself from Delores’ side and ran into Grace’s welcoming arms. She giggled a little girl giggle as Grace scooped her up and brought her to the chair next to hers, she plopped her down and pulled a napkin down to place it on her lap. As she fussed over the child, Five and Delores found their seats, Five grabbing a chair from the other room to squeeze in. As he watched his mother scoop potatoes onto her first grandchild’s plate he smiled from ear to ear, reveling in the look on his mother’s face when he gave her their other Christmas surprise. “Her name is Grace.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End! I hope everyone enjoyed it. I truly enjoyed writing it as western is my absolute favorite genre of everything. Drop me a line if you'd like to see more!

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave notes! Is this a fun AU? If I kept with it would anyone read it?


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